Railway-spike



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UNTTED STATES GEORGE r. RosE, -oE EENToN, MICHIGAN.

RAI LWAY-SPI KE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 395,925, dated January8, 1889.

Application tiled May 3l, 1888. Serial No. 275,559. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE P. Rosh), a citizen of the United States,residing at Fenton, county of Genesee, State of Michigan, have inventeda new and useful Railway-Spike, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention has for its object certain useful iniprovenients inrailway-spikes, designed to prevent them from working loose andobviating the necessity of drawing them from the ties when replacing therails.

In the drawings forming a part of this speci- Iication, Figure l is anelevation looking from a point at left of Fig. 2; Fig. 2, an elevationlooking against the right side of l; Figs. 3 and i, pieces of tie,showing the operation; and Fig. shows a broken tie and a rail in endelevation. i

Referring to the lettered parts of the drawings, P is the spike, havinga T-shaped head, T. Two opposite sides of the spike are made straight orVfiat, as at c, and the other opposite sides are rounded incross-section and are screw-tlneaded. The upper surface of the threads ais at right angles to the spike and the under surface is beveled. Bythis means the spike will drive easily and turn easily in the wood afterbeing driven. The surface of the spike between the threads is round incross-section, is ol a width to distinctly separate one thread fromanother a little space, and the spike in these spaces is verticallystraight and all ot' a like diameter. Thus the surfacebetween thethreads 'ornis a uniform bearing thi-.)ughout its length when the spikeis turned in the wood.

The point of the spike is \`vedgeshaped, the beveled sides being on thesides t-he threads of the bolt are on. At rr the corner of thewedge-point is beveled or rounded oif, and the corner diagonallyopposite is formed in like manner. Thus the spike can be turned moreeasily afterbeing driven; but the point, if preferred, may be otherwiseformed.

The spike is driven in the position shown in Fig. 3, (and at the rightin Fig. 5,) one threaded side being toward the rail D of the track,(rail shown in Fig. 5,) so that the wedgepoint cuts crosswise of thegrain, the same as a nail which is properly driven, so as not to splitthe timber, but to break and broom the wood, as at c, Figs. 3 and 4. Thespike is l driven until the round part above the threads i enters thewood, which part forms a bearing in the wood when turning the spike. Thespike is then given a quarter-turn with a wrench, which action carriesthe thread out of the broomed wood into the solid wood, the latter ofwhich before the spike was turned was at the iiat sides of the spike,and this explains why the sides c are iiat. After the spike is given thequarteiturn, it then becomes a screw. "When .the rails wear into theties, the spike can be given a half-turn to tighten them again.

In Fig. ll the spike has been removed from the tie B, and at u are?shown the indentations made in the solid wood. It should be stated thatthe spike is driven by pounding sufficiently far that when it is giventhe quarterturn above explained the' head will firmly hand.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States, is

The T-headed spike having threads on the two opposite sides, the upperside of which threads is at right angles to the spike, and havin\fertically-straight spaces between the threads and a bearing portionbetween the T-head and upper thread, which portion is circular incross-section, and the wedge-point of the spike having two of itsdiagonallynopposite corners chamfered off to facilitate turning in thewood, substantially as set forth.

In testimony of the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name inpresence of two witnesses.

GEORGE P. ROSE.

vitnessesz GEO. W. LocKE, E. D. CHAsE.

catch on the flange of the rail, Fig. 5, at left

